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T. ALLSOP AND W. W. SIBSON.

DRYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18. 1919.

1 222,280. Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

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WIT/V588 8 ii '19 W T. ALLSOP AND W. W. SIBSON.

DRYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18. 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1 1 322,280. Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

' I WITNESSES TYYYYWYYWY7K7TYX'YYVW'YWWW? LL 4i a \Q l INVENTOfzS: v 3* Thomas flllsopgii 5L. 6 6 ,wm/ 710035 22 11/ 175022 I ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS ALLSOP- AND WALTER W. SIIBSON, 0F PHILADELPHIA PENNSYLVANIA,

ASSIGNORS TO THE PHILADELPHIA DRYING MACHINERY- COMPANY, OF

PHILADELPHIA, ]?ENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

DRYING-MACHINE. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

Application filed March 18, 1919. Serial No. 283,863.

of china, pottery or other articles of simi lar constituency.

To this end, the machine constructed ac cording to our invention, consists essentially of an inclosure within which a heatingmedium is constantly circulated and through which the articles are slowly progressed' under the support of an endless conveyer traveling over a circuitous-path.

An object of the invention is to provide means in connection with a drying machine oi the general character outlined above, whereby the circulation of the drying medium is res ricted to a predetermined course in order t effect eificient intimate contact with the goods under treatment.

The invention also includes means for.

subdividi g the flow of the drying medium s0 tliat said medium may contact with the goods under treatment from various.

angles of. impingement during their progression through the machine.

The invention" further comprehends an organization inwhich the greater portion of the run of the supporting conveyer'is restricted to travel through a compartment in which the heating medium is constantly circulated, and the return run of said conveyer permitted to traverse a separate or auxiliary channel, which is neutral, in so far as circulation is concerned, and wherein the supporting elements are permitted to cool somewhat before being recharged preparatory to their reentrance into the drying compartment in order to prevent injurious pre-heating' of the articles to be dried, which in warping.

The inventionis still further directed to pre-heating is apt to result subsidiary deflecting devices whereby the drying medium is obliged to follow a zigzag course initially encountering the articles under treatment in order to efi'ect a thorough distributionv of the medium about the same.

Our invention also. lends itself readily to.

various modifications of detail which will become apparent fromthe description which follows:

Figure I, is a longitudinal sectional view through a drying machine conveniently embodying our invention.

Fig. II, is atransverse sectional elevation viewed in the direction of the arrows IIII,

- in Fig. I, and

Fig. III, is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a modified embodiment of the invention. v Referring first to form of drying machine illustrated in Figs. I and II, it will be seen that the device consists of an inclosure comprehensively indicated 'bythe' numeral '1.

This inclosure is preferably built of standard structural iron shapes in the form of ,a skeleton framework 2, to which are secured suitable thermo -insulated panels which serve 'as the walls and roof. Such fire-proof construction is more or less standard in devices of this sort and no attempt has therefore been made at detailed illustration in the drawings. The goods. or articles 'to betreated are progressed through the inclosure while under the support of -a conveyer consisting of a pair of-spac'ed endless sprocket chains 3 and 4, .(conventionally represented by dash and dot lines in the drawings) which are united at intervals by cross bars or rods'5. .The travel of these complementary chains isover a circuitous path determined by a series of paired cooperative sprocket wheels, after the manner best illustrated in Fig. I. The outer limit of the chain circuit is established by the upper and lower, end sprockets 6, 7 and 8, .9, respectively, and the intermediate portion of the traverse by the guide sprockets 10 to 14, inclusive.

This system of guiding elements is so arranged that the conveyer is obliged to reverse its direction (in this instance Vertically) of travel at regular intervals whereby not only an economy of spacefis afi'orded,

'cifically described later.

but in addition, the articles carried by the conveyer are subjected to the action of the drying medium directed at different angles of impingement, as will be more fully disclosed later. The sprockets are fixed upon shaftswhich are common to each pair, and any one of the shafts carrying the en sprockets 6, 7, 8 and 9, may be conveniently employed as a driver for the series, depending upon the desired location of the power transmission appurtenances. For convenience of illustration, the end shaft 15, at the upper right hand corner of the compartment 1, has been chosen as the main or driving shaft for the conveyer. Fixed upon said shaft is a worm wheel 16, which receives motion from a worm upon. the vertical stub shaft 17. This stub shaft in turn receives its motion through a worm gear-18, from a pulley shaft 19, which forms part of a transmission system and will be again referred to later. The driving elements thus far outlined, serve to progress the conveyer through the inclosure at a slow uniform speed, the time period for the cycle being regulated to conform to any predetermined conditions imposed by the character of the articles under treatment.

The inclosure is divided into a drying chamber20, which comprehends the greater portion of the chain circuit and an auxili'ary channel comprising the vertical branches 21, 22, and the horizontal cross branch 23. Said channel is traversed by the empty return run of the conveyer in order to permit a substantial cooling of'the latter before reloading as will be more speof' the inclosure is efiected by a partitioning unit having a U shaped cross sectional configuration comprising the vertical components 24 and 25, spaced from the end walls of the inclosure and the horizontal component 37, similarly spaced from the floor of the inclosure. The vertical partitions 24 and 25,- are located preferably in the plane of the axes of the guide sprockets 6-8 and 79, respectively and terminate short of the floor of the inclosure to afford interspaces for the passage of the conveyer.

In order to restrict the circulation of the air to a predetermined course within the drying compartment the latter is in turn subdivided as follows:

Wholly located within the drying comresponding members of the first described partitioning unit, and a horizontal compo- -nent 38, spaced from the roof of the inclosure. By this means the drying compartment is subdividedinto an inner or difi'using. chamber 29, and a supplemental pas- This subdivision sage including vertical ducts 30, 31, and a common horizontal branch 32. The vertical partitions 26 and 27, terminate short of the horizontal partition 37, to afford communication passages between the diffusing chamber 29, and the ducts 30 and 31.

Circulation is effected by a fan 33, operating in an opening in the horizontal partition 38, so that the air follows the course indicated by the arrows in Fig. I, entering first the diffusing chamber 29, and returning through the ducts 30, 31 and 32. The roof of the inclosure is provided with a conical depression 34, in co-axial relation with the rotary fan whereby the return of the air thereto is greatly facilitated. It will be noted from Fig. I, that the partitioning units above described are symmetrically arranged within the inclosure and with respect to the rotary fan, so that an equal or balanced division of the air stream is effectedin circulation.

The air within the drying compartment is heated by, means of steam coils 35, located between adjacent vertical runs of the conveyer.

Within the ducts 30 and 31, the partitions 24, 25, 26 and 27, are supplemented at intervals, with horizontally projecting bafiles 36,

"arranged in alternation as clearly shown in Fig. I. These bafiles are functional in causing the air currents to follow a zigzag course while traversing the return ducts, thereby effecting more intimate contact with the ar-. ticles carried by the conveyer.

The fan 33 is mounted upon a shaft 43, journ'ailed in bearings 44, and is driven by .beveT gears 45, from a counter shaft 46,

which is in turn rotated through a belt "con-v nection 47, from.the overhead line shaft 48. Power is transmitted from the counter shaft 46, to the conveyer drive through a speed reducing gear consisting of a second counter shaft 49, actuated by a crossed belt 50, and in turn connected to the pulley shaft 19, al-

ready described, by a belt 51. This driving system also includes a number of cone pulleys 52, 52 (see Fig. II) by which the speed of the conveyer may be varied if desired.

The articles to be dried may be hung directly upon the cross rods 5, of the conveyer or may be supported upon carrier 53, pivotally suspended from said bars. These carriers may be of any approvedform depending upon the nature and sizes of the articles to be treated. In the drawings we have shown a type which may be conveniently employed'for supporting articles of china, pottery, etc., and accordingly consist offlone or -more trays, or perforated shelves 54. At

the left hand end, the inclosure is provided with an opening 55, through which the'trays may be loaded,- and at the opposite end, with an opening 56, for the purpose of discharging them.

less, from beneath, an attending zigzag ing being at the same time effected .by the affies 36, as already explained. 'In rounding about the sprocket 10, forthe second reversal of movement, the air strikes the articles sidewise until the third or upwardly moving section of the conveyer run is reached when the air contacts more generally from above, during progression through the diffusing chamber 29. By following this line of reasoning throughout the course of the conveyer, it will be seen that at each reversal of movement, and in consideration of the divided circulation, the air is directed to the conveyed articles at a different angle thereby insuring thorough and even drying by the intimacy thus afforded. This is of the utmost importance in treating articles of. clay or china which are very subject to warping when unevenly dried.

After completing its circuitous path in the diffusing chamber 29, the conveyer rounds the sprocket 14, traverses the return air duct 31,. at the opposite end of the machine, and finally enters the branch 22, of the auxiliary channel and is relieved of its charge at the opening 56. It will be noted from the peculiar construction of the drier, that there is no,circulation of the heated air in the auxiliary channel so that while progressing therethrough, the idle carriers are given an opportunity to cool somewhat before returning to the charging opening 55, for reloading, thereby obviating any detrimental action upon the newly received articles by initial overheating.

In the form of invention illustrated in Fig. III, the same general principles of operation obtain as in' the first described embodiment, but the arrangement of the constituent elements is somewhat different. In this instance, the inclosure 60', is similarly subdivided into a drying compartment 61, and an auxiliary channel constituted by branches 62, 63 and 64, subdivision being effected by a U-shaped partitioning ,unit comprising the components 65, 66 and' 67. The drying chamber is in turn divided by a central transverse partition 68, and the inclosure. supplemented with a peaked roof portion 69, symmetrically dis osed with respect to said partition. Wit in the offset thus 'formed is housed a circulating fan 7 0, rotatable in a vertical plane and operative in an opening in the partition 68. Said partition terminates short of the horizontal partition 66, so as to provide a communicating passage for the subdivisions of the dry ing compartment, between which the air is circulated b the fan, as indicated by the arrows in t e drawing. As in the former instance, the air-is heated by pipe coils 71, located between adjacent runs of the conveyer which follows the circuitous path so clearly shown as to obviate the necessity for detailed explanation. The conveyer and fan are driven through atransmission system comprehensively indicated at 74:, from an overhead lineshaft 75, a manner analog'ous to that described in connection with first form of our invention.

In summarizing, the modification just de- I tailed may be considered as having a divided inner drying compartment through which the conveyer traverses along a circuitous path while subjected to a circulating drying medium; and an auxiliary passage or channel for the return run of the conveyer. Herein again there is no appreciable circulation so that the carriers are permitted to cool before being recharged.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A drying machine consisting of an in-- closure; an endless conveyer traversing av circuitous path within the'inclosure; means for dividing said inclosure into a drying compartment provided with heating devices and comprehending the greater portion of the conveyer circuit, and an auxiliary channel for the return run of the conveyer, whereby the latter, during its traverse through said channel, is permitted to cool before being reloaded; and means for causing a circulation of the air in the drying compartment.

2. A drying machine comprising an inclosure; an endless conveyer traversing a circuitous path within the inclosure; means for dividing said inclosure into a drying compartment and an auxiliary channel for the return 1 run of the conveyer; heating devices in said drying compartment; and means for causing a circulation of the air within and confined to the drying compartment.

3. A drying machine consisting of an .inclosure; an endless conveyer traversing a circuitous path within the inclosure; means for dividing said inclosure into a drying compartment provided with heating devices and comprehending the greater portion of the conveyer circuit, and an auxiliary channel for the return run of the conveyer, whereby the latter, during its my: erse through said channel, is permitted-to 0001 before being reloaded; combination with air circulating means; and means for confiningthe circulation of the air to a definite circuit within the drying compartment.

4. A drying machine consisting of an inclosure; an endless conveyer traversing a circuitous path within the inclosure; means for dividing said inclosure into a drying compartment provided with heating devices and comprehending the greater portion of the conveyer circuit, and an auxiliary channel for the return run of the conveyer, whereby the latter, during its traverse through said channel, is permitted to cool before being reloaded; in combination with means for circulating the airwithin the .drying chamber; and means for subdividing the flow of the air through separate circuits so as to contact from difi'erent angles of impingement upon the articles carried by the said conveyer.

5.-A drying machine.consis ting of an inclosure; an endless conveyer traversing a circuitous path within the, inclosure; means for dividing said inclosure into a drying compartment provided with heating devices, and comprehending thegreater portion of the conveyer circuit, and anauxiliary channel for the return run of the conveyer, whereby the latter, during its traverse through said channel is permitted tocool before being reloaded; in combination with air circulating means; and means for confining the circulation of the air to a definite circuit within the drying compartment, including a partition unit separating said compartment into a'difi'us'ing chamber and a return air duct,

6. A drying'machine consisting of an inclosure; an endless conveyer traversinga' circuitous path within the inclosure; means for dividing said inclosure into a drying compartment provided with heating devices and comprehending the greater portion of the conveyer circuit, and an auxiliary channel."

for the return run of'the conveyer, whereby the latter, during its traverse through said.

channel, is permitted to 0001 before being reloaded; in combination with air circulating means; and means for confining the cir-- culation of the air to a definite circuit within the drying compartment, including: a par tition unit separating said compartment into a diffusing chamber and a return air,

duct, and baflies alternately arranged on opposite sides of said duct to effect a zigzagging of the air while traversing therethrough.

7 A drying machine consisting of an inclosure; an endless conveyer traversing a circuitous path within the inclosure; means for dividing said inclosure into a drying compartment provided'with heating devices and comprehendiri the greater portion of the conveyer circu nae-an auxiliary channel for the return run of the conveyer,

1,a22,aso

whereby the latter, during its traverse through said channel, is permitted to cool before being reloaded the portion of the conveyer Within said 0 annel being accessible for loading and unloading through openings in the walls of the inclosure, and means for causing a circulation of the air within the drying compartment.

8. A drying machine, consisting of a quadrangular inc osure; an endless conveyer traversing a circuitous path within the inclosure; a U shaped partitioning unit having itsvertical components spaced from the end walls of the inclosure and its horizontal component similarly spaced from the floor of the inclosure, to afford a drying compartment comprehending the greater portion of the conveyer circuit, and an auxiliary channel for the return run of the conveyer; in combination with means for heating the air in the drying compartment; and means for causing a circulation of the air confined to the drying compartment.

9. A drying machine, consisting ofa quadrangular inclosure an endless conveyer traversing-a circuitous path Within the inclosure; a U shaped partitioning unit having its vertical components spaced from the end Walls of the inclosure and its horizontal component similarly spaced from the floor of the inclosuregtoafford a drying compartment comprehendingthe greater portion of the conveyer circuit, and an auxiliary channel for the return run of the conveyer; in combinat'ibn with means for heating the air 1n the drying compartmenty'mean's for circulating'the heated air therein; and means for restricting the air circulation to a' definite path within the drying compartment, includingzan inverted U shaped partitioning unit wholly within the first mentioned partitioning unit and having its vertical components spaced from the corresponding components of said first mentioned partitioning unit and its horizontal component spaced from the roof of the inclosure, to subdivide the drying compartment into a main or diffusing chamber, and a supplemental return duct for the air.

10. A drying machine consisting of a drying compartment; an endless conveyer traversing-a circuitous path longitudinally within said compartment; an air circulating fan centrally located in the compartment; and. 

